Teams open Big Ten season on road

The men's swimming and diving team will try to avenge two straight road losses last weekend. The Hoosiers continue their season away from Bloomington, facing No. 10 Wisconsin today and No. 22 Northwestern Saturday. These meets will mark the team's first against Big Ten opponents, of which IU went 5-1 against in dual meets last year. \nThe Hoosier squad is hoping for everyone to step up their performance from last week, when they suffered two defeats in a row. \n"We really didn't change anything in practice this week," said assistant swim coach Brian Barnes. "We just continued to work hard, still focusing on swimming fast and persevering."\nSeveral members of the team had losses in their meets against Tennessee and Kentucky. Freshman Colin Russell went from winning three races in his first collegiate meet against Evansville to finishing third and fourth in the 100 and 200 yard freestyle races, respectively. Senior Matt Leach emphasized the importance of swimming better against Wisconsin, who will be the tougher of the two opponents.\n"Wisconsin is a top-10 team, so they're going to be tough," Leach said. "Adam Mania is going to be especially tough in the backstroke. He always swims well in season. The whole team really worked on swimming faster this week, and coach really tried to make us as tired as possible."\nOne of the bright spots of last weekend was the relay team of senior Claes Anderson and junior David Winck, who finished first in the 400 yard medley relay race against Tennessee. Keeping up that momentum will be important for them, as Wisconsin and Northwestern offer tough competition.\n"Wisconsin is very similar to Tennessee, as we're going to be underdogs in this one, too," Winck said. "We're going to need strong performances from everyone, especially strong diving from (junior) Ryan Fagan."\nThe Badgers (1-1) will be led by their relay team of Matt Marshall, Mania, Kevin Zakrzewski and Dale Rodgers. Marshall is the reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Week, after posting victories in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly against Iowa, in addition to claiming victory with his teammates in the 400-yard medley. The Wildcats are 1-1 and are coming off a loss to No. 8 and Big Ten rival Minnesota. In their first meet against Wisconsin-Milwaukee, swimmer Mark Hamming, Tony Swanson and Brian Davis won two races each for Northwestern.\n-- Contact staff writer Scott Lipsky at slipsky@indiana.edu.